Kuzul

Cliff Lee is flat-out dominant in the postseason.

Lee had a historic 2009 postseason for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in five starts. He was 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA in his two World Series starts against the New York Yankees. He earned the win in game one of the World Series in Yankee Stadium, and in his two game one starts last season he threw two complete games with a 0.50 ERA.

He was only the second pitcher in history to throw a complete-game victory with double-digit strikeouts and zero walks. He also was the eighth starting pitcher in postseason history to win at least four games with a sub-2.00 ERA.

Lee made his sixth career postseason start today in his win against the Tampa Bay Rays and was phenomenal. He only gave up five hits and one earned run in the seven innings that he pitched. He also had 10 strikeouts and a 1.29 ERA.

Lee is just what the Yankees are missing.

New York is in desperate need of consistent pitching after CC Sabathia. They have pulled A.J. Burnett out of the starting rotation for the postseason, going instead with Andy Pettite and Phil Hughes. If Cliff Lee was in that rotation there isn’t a team in the American League that has the pitching to match.

The Yankees have been and continue to be the most likely destination for Cliff Lee’s talents next season. But the cost of his services continue to rise with every playoff pitch he delivers from the mound.

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The Philadelphia Phillies are the hottest playoff team in baseball right now, sporting the MLB’s best record at 94-63. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and recently had an 11-game winning streak. They are playing outstanding baseball and look to be in postseason form, and have also clinched their fourth consecutive NL East title.

With the Phillies playing this well, can they be stopped? They have been to the past two World Series, and won it all in 2008. It will take a lot for a team to stop the Phillies once the postseason starts.

The Phillies look like they will coast through the playoffs to another World Series. It is very possible that the World Series will be their first true challenge. With that being the case, lets look at 10 reasons the Tampa Bay Rays currently are the biggest threat to the Phillies.

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There is a saying that bad news doesn’t get better with time. However, announcing plans to cut payroll while your team is in the middle of a division race can’t be a good idea.

That’s exactly what Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg did when he announced that even if the Rays win the World Series payroll will be cut in 2011. The current estimate is that the Rays will cut this year’s $72 million payroll by $15-20 million.

Prior to Tuesday’s game Sternberg said,  “Unfortunately there’s nothing that can happen between now and April that can change that unless Joe Maddon hits the lottery and wants to donate it, or I hit the lottery.”

This is the reality of having one of the best teams on the field coupled with one of the worst attendances. The Rays have done everything to try to boost attendance and revenue including hosting postgame concerts on Saturday’s in the summer. There were even empty seats when the Yankees and Red Sox recently played in Tropicana Field.

With the upcoming reduction in payroll the Rays will be fielding an even younger team. The starting lineup this season has an average age of 26 years old.

Here are four Rays rookies that will be critical in the franchise’s future.

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The Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees play a four-game series this week in the Bronx. This series is pivotal in deciding which team will be the AL East champion and which team will fight the Boston Red Sox for the wild card. Winning the division is important for home field advantage since it is believed that they will meet in the ALCS.

Coming into the series the Yankees have a half-game lead on the Rays. Tampa Bay should be able to hold off the Yankees and win the division.

There are five factors that the Tampa Bay Rays have in their favor over the Yankees in the upcoming series and remainder of the season.

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The Tampa Bay Rays are once again a half game behind the New York Yankees. In the first of their three game series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4-3.

On the second pitch of the ninth inning Dan Wheeler gave up a solo home run to Brandon Wood which turned out to be the deciding run in the game. It was Wood’s first home run since June 27. In his post-game interview Rays Manager Joe Maddon said he was trying not to use Closer Rafael Soriano unless it was an actual save situation.

Dan Haren threw 115 pitches in seven innings for the Angels but received no decision in the game. He also recorded 10 strikeouts in the game. The winning pitcher for the Angels was Michael Kohn. Fernando Rodney pitched his 11th save of the year.

The Rays tied the game 3-3 in the sixth inning and looked to be gaining momentum in the game. In the bottom of the eight the Rays had the bases loaded with two outs but Dan Johnson was called out on strikes.

Hopefully the Rays don’t play any postseason games on Friday. The Rays are 6-17 on Fridays this season.

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Now that Matt Garza has provided us with the fifth no-hitter of the season we might as well rank the great performances we have seen. It is apparent that the steroids-era in baseball is over.

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The Padres and Mets are now the only Major League Baseball teams that have never had a pitcher throw a no-hitter.

Matt Garza threw the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay Rays history as they beat the Detroit Tigers 5-0. Garza completed the fifth no-hitter in Major League Baseball this year.

You knew eventually the tide would turn for the Rays, who had been on the wrong side of phenomenal pitching outings this season.

Garza only allowed a second-inning walk out of the 27 batters he faced.

Ben Zobrist sealed the game, catching a routine fly ball to right field.

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